Birdseye. Maple that is. Soft, golden yellow with wonderful patina and graining, this birdseye maple chest and dresser set is a rare find. They appear to date from the 1930’s to very early 40’s (the New Haven furniture company that originally sold them closed in 1949). Both have pivoting, beveled mirrors set between a pair of tall, gracefully curved mountings. The legs have wheels. This is truly the most interesting dresser and chest set Redeux has had. It was a real pleasure bringing these beauties back to life!

This past week the Wanamaker secretary desk was given a bit of a new look. Solid, with lots of character this desk can hold books, curios, mementoes and lots of other things in its many cubby holes and drawers. The Victorian cylinder roll top desk would also be a great addition to any office or study. Just in is a compact, Governor Winthrop style, slant-top desk. It may be restored by early next week. For all those of you that have asked for this style desk – stop by soon to see if it fits your needs.

A small, simple bookcase has come in and is now ready. It has been stained and given two coats of shellac. Also, a child’s rocker has been refinished. It has a rustic look with a slat seat. It would also be ideal for a little girl’s doll.

The Berkley & Gay dresser and the “3 legged dog” chest are still a source of bafflement for how to proceed with refinishing. The prep work has been completed on the Berkley piece and the final finishing choices are being narrowed down. Thanks to all of you that have stopped by and shared your thoughts.

Several new pieces are scheduled to come in by this weekend. Whenever I go about seeking new pieces for Redeux your wish list comes with me and hopefully that list will continue to be fulfilled.

I need your thoughts to help me make a decision that must be made soon. With winter coming in a few months (yes, only a few weeks ago the heat was stifling) it will be impossible to do the refinishing and display the furniture in the Redeux garage when the temperature drops below a certain point. I expect it will be late November when the temps drop to that level. These past several months have been really wonderful. So many beautiful pieces have been restored and have found new homes. So many of you have become “regulars” at Redeux and I always look forward to our chats about the furniture, design, history, literature and so much more. So, when the cold weather comes I must make a decision to A) stop everything until spring and then open again. B) Continue to work and display the furniture in our home's lower level. Doing this would require that I be “open” only for those folks that have already stopped by the Redeux garage and are on this mailing list. The inventory would be limited. But, the question is, would you be comfortable with this type of setup – coming into the lower level of the house? This set-up would last until about March.


Please let us know your honest thoughts on this by either stopping by or sending me an email. Please!

Stop by. See what’s new at Redeux. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to do something that is so very enjoyable – restoring beautiful American-made furniture and finding them new homes. Hope to see you soon.

Bill